Football 2013: Tooley Carries On Hillbilly Tradition

Football 2013: Tooley Carries On Hillbilly Tradition

OZARK — Ozark’s Jacob Tooley always knew he had a legacy to live up to as a football player with the Hillbillies.

“My dad played football here and I have a couple of older cousins that played, too,” Tooley said. “All of the Tooleys were three-year starters, so it was on me, too.”

Ozark head coach Jeremie Burns was in his first year when Tooley was coming in as a sophomore. Tooley (6-foot, 220 pounds) was a natural center. But that’s a position that has the responsibilities of calling blocking adjustments for the offensive line and usually goes to an experienced player.

“You don’t really want to have to go with a sophomore on the offensive line, but we couldn’t keep him out of there,” Burns said. “We started him the first or second game of his sophomore year, and he has done a great job ever since.”

While Tooley has good size, feet and quickness one of his biggest assets is consistency.

“We will get up under center sometimes and other times we drop back in the shotgun,” Burns said. “He has to make the adjustments. A couple of years ago, we were having some problems with our exchange ,and it can cost you some turnovers and end up costing you a ballgame. Since Jacob has been in there, he has been very reliable and we have not had that problem.”

Tooley missed a few games with an injury in the middle of last year, but the team is glad to have him back and healthy in the middle of the line.

“He has worked hard in the weight room and the offseason program,” Burns said. “He has looked good spring and in fall camp. With so many seniors graduating from last year’s team, we needed a couple of seniors to step up and fulfil that leadership role, and Jacob has done a great job with that.”

Tooley’s father, Lynn, graduated in 1989 and has been a hardcore Hillbilly booster since then. He is active in cooking for team outings and giving motivational speeches.

“He likes to give speeches and pump the team up,” Tooley said. “He can light up the room. I haven’t been like that so much last year, but with so many seniors gone I am going to try to take more of that on.”

Tooley is one of just a handful of Hillbillies who return with starting experience from last year’s 12-3 campaign.

“There are probably a lot of people counting us out,” Tooley said. “But that’s OK. We know we can be a good team. No one knows how good anybody can be, really, before the season even starts. But we are ready to go out there and prove we can be as good as anybody else.”